Analysis of the hotspots and trends in traditional Chinese medicine immunomodulation research based on bibliometrics

Objective

To analyze the intellectual structure, hotspots and trends of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in immune regulation research.

Methods

The data were extracted from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) and the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and verified by two experienced TCM researchers. The time of literature retrieval is up to 2020. CiteSpace 5.7.R1 and Microsoft Excel 2016 were used for the statistical analysis and bibliometric diagrams, including the co-occurrence network of authors, institutions, countries, keywords, references, dual-map overlays of journals and citation bursts, etc.

Results

A total of 12 270 publications related to TCM in immune regulation were included. The annual number of publications has increased in this field. There was close cooperation of countries and institutions, while the distribution of scholars was scattered. China was the core of the cooperation network. The dual-map overlays analysis of journals showed that core and marginal fields had increased. The keywords and references analysis showed that network pharmacology, metabolism and cancer were the most high-frequency keywords with high-intensity bursts.

Conclusion

TCM in immune regulation has attracted wider attention, with multi-country, multi-field, multi-disciplinary and multi-level research developing toward informatization. Network pharmacology, metabolism and cancer may be the focus of future research in this field.